Feature

Triumph over Adversity

Carol Brocker
Web Master

Shoreline Community College’s Community Integration Program (CIP) serves students with severe disabilities. Services are provided on a case-by-case basis and consist of academic support, such as note taking, priority registration, special keyboards, classroom accommodations as wheelchair accessible tables and additional tutoring hours. This program is currently serving 21 students. King and Snohomish Counties supply the funding for the special services, offered here at SCC. Five students share some of their experiences with the Ebbtide:

Monica Marcoe is very active in many campus organizations such as student government and President of the Self Awareness Club. She is on the board of the Ebbtide, in the Black Student Union, and the Vine. With all these actives she still finds time to balance taking two classes, Psychology 100 as well as being involved with Dr. Ernest Johnson on a special project. As a sideline, she sells items like homemade soap and bags of candy to help supplement her income. Just this last summer Marcoe got married. She started here at Shoreline in 1986 after spending five quarters at North Seattle Community College. “North Seattle had services, but, they were not as accommodating as SCC is,” says Marcoe. Marcoe had a terrific opportunity to travel to Brazil, for two and a half weeks between her move from North Seattle and SCC. It turned out to be a turning point in her life. Jake Thompson helps Marcoe with her typing and reading. Jake is in his second year here at SCC, but this is his first quarter helping out in the CIP. Like many students that help out CIP students he finds it very rewarding.

Susan McIntosh has been here for five years now. Before SCC she attended a school for the handicap, for about six years. “I have made lots of new friends,” said McIntosh. “I have the added advantage of being only about ten minutes away by bus.”

April Brownfield started at SCC in 1984. She has completed her AA in Arts and Sciences and has received a Certificate in Computers. Brownfield is currently taking Psychology 100 and is involved in a new Community Connection Class thought by Dunne, CIP Manager. This class has teachers from a verity of disciplines come and speak to the students about what is involved in their specific disciplines. In this way students can develop a broader understanding of all SCC has to offer.

Brownfield, when not busy with her classes, is out on educational field trips that CIP offers such as going to the downtown library, Burke Museum, the zoo, and the Asian Art Museum among others.

Mike Dalagher, now a former student from SCC, has moved on to Berkley, CA. He has completed his AA and is ready to take on new challenges. He plans on tackling then head on, as he starts his new life in Berkley. Dalagher doesn’t have any family in California, but two childhood friends will be nearby. Dalagher had a good luck party on Oct. 28, with many friends and staff stopping by for cake and wish him best wishes with his bold new adventure. He has been a student at SCC for the last 27 years. It has been said that California accommodations are better then Washington’s. He will be sharing a two-bedroom apartment and two people will be helping Dalagher with his hourly needs. He said that he has a lot of options in the Berkley area, but hasn’t made up his mind yet as to just what he will be doing.

He loaded up a van driven by a longtime friend and left the state last Sunday. Now he needs to focus on unpacking and settling in to his new place. Hopefully we will hear from him soon, we all want to find out how he’s doing and if he has managed to get into any trouble yet hanging out with his old time friends.

Norm Rodgers, started here in 1987 or 88, he said “I’m not really sure on the date.” Rodgers is currently taking English 101 and reports, with a mischievous look on his face; his class is “so far so good.”

He enjoys the steep ramp down to CIP’s new location in the FOSS building room 5100A, next to the bookstore. “I can sure build up some speed on the way down the hill and it offers a lot more elbow room too,” said Rodgers with a smile.

For information on CIP visit their website at: http://www.shoreline.edu/advising/cip.htm or call the office at: (206) 546-5823 or (206) 546-4520 TTY

Are We Getting Any help Here?

Chaim S. Eliyah
A & E Editor

Homelessness is a situation most of us cannot imagine. In our American society, a structured life is usually taken for granted. Food, clothing and shelter are assumed to be accessible by all. In reality, once someone falls below the safety net this country offers, these necessities become very hard to obtain.

The reasons people become homeless are most often associated with the rising poverty in America since the 1980’s. On an average night, according to the U.S. Census Bureau in 1999, about 470,000 people in this country are without a place to sleep. This number does not truly represent the scope of homelessness in the United States; the number of citizens in danger of becoming homeless in a given year is about three to four million. Homelessness isn’t always a permanent condition. But because of harsh situations surrounding the poor, it is usually a chronic one.

Actions taken to provide homeless people with assistance are usually performed by small charitable organizations that do not have enough power to truly affect the condition of the homeless. Examples of these activities include soup kitchens run by churches, shelters run by missions, and food or clothing banks disbursed unevenly, geographically speaking. In Seattle for instance, many people who become homeless are either marginally aware or entirely unaware of such services.

Several individuals interviewed for this article responded similarly when questioned about their current state of welfare and knowledge of available resources. On average, these people reported having access to food twice a day, although in small amounts. Clothing, one person said, usually has to be stolen, or it’s handed down by someone they knew. Another person knew about a program through Street Links (a non-profit organization centered in Seattle) where he could get socks, but no other clothes or food. Most of the persons interviewed reported they sleep outside with little or no shelter, although one individual reported being able to use a friend’s couch from time to time. No mention was made in any interviews about the shelter located downtown; one person said simply, “It’s always full.”

This lack of knowledge about helpful programs for the most basic needs of people in distress raises several questions about the actual availability of such programs. In an affluent society, do we no longer accept the basic responsibility of making sure our brothers and sisters are not suffering? Are there truly enough institutions in place to assure potential upward mobility for those who want a better life? What is being done, and why does it not seem to be enough?

Before anything can be done about the situation, more information is necessary for everyone. There are many misconceptions about people who are homeless, and those who find themselves without a home often do not really know how to survive or who can help them. It is everyone’s responsibility to make sure that what knowledge can be shared does get shared. It’s everyone’s obligation to help here.

Walking In My Shoes…

Norm Rogers
Special to The Ebbtide

At 6:00 a.m., on any Monday morning, I wake up and my caretaker, Lee, helps me into my wheelchair. I head to the kitchen for my usual breakfast of eggs over easy, raisin bread, and hot coffee with cream and sugar. After breakfast, I head to the bathroom to get shaved, brush my teeth and catch a quick shower--all with Lee’s help. After dressing and being helped into my power chair, I’m off to catch the 7:45 a.m. bus. There’s a motorized ramp that helps my chair and me to board, and I’m off to begin my typical day.

I have lived with Cerebral Palsy for 67 years---my entire life, as I was born with it. As you just read, my routine day is only slightly different from yours. While my physical condition may affect my life and the way I do my daily activities, “walking in my shoes” will give you my insights about living with Cerebral Palsy. Hopefully, it will help you to understand my where I’m coming from.

Cerebral Palsy is a brain injury that affects an individual before, during, or after birth. Having Cerebral Palsy means that one’s brain is not able to send signals to some of the muscles in one’s body. With no communication between the brain and the muscles, a person with this disability can have difficulty moving his or her limbs. This can affect walking, talking and writing among other things. In my case, Cerebral Palsy impedes my motor skills, affecting my arms, legs and speech.

Because this population of disabled folks might have a difficult time moving their arms and legs, they are often mistakenly assumed to be mentally retarded. In some cases, a few individuals who have Cerebral Palsy have the appearance of some level of retardation, but, in truth, they are just simply slower in processing their thoughts. The reality is that the majority of people affected with this condition have bright and wonderful minds. A movie called My Left Foot was filmed about Christy Brown, who was born with Cerebral Palsy. He learned to paint and write with his only controllable limb---his left foot. There are other amazing success stories like his.

It didn’t always used to be this way. Even as little as 50 years ago, if a person had Cerebral Palsy, they were shipped away to an institution, and left to live out their days with others, who society said were “mentally retarded”. There was no real understanding of this condition, or anybody to work with people to help them succeed and exist in the everyday world.

Although there have been great strides made in research and understanding in this area, often I get the feeling that I am like an alien from another planet. Anybody encountering someone with Cerebral Palsy tends to feel that they require more attention. This fact might be true, but receiving special attention is not always the best answer sometimes. Maybe a Cerebral Palsy person needs a chance to do something on their own, and maybe this is what they want. For instance, some people like to do my thinking for me. They put words in my mouth when I can speak for myself. When I’m dining out, a person might try to order for me, but I am perfectly capable of making my own choices off the menu and letting the waiter know what I’d like.

With the idea in mind that the Cerebral Palsy individual needs a chance to do something independently, you might wonder how they can communicate with others without assistance. Some have little difficulty in speaking, but others do not have any speech at all. Thanks to communicating devices like spelling boards and Lightwriter™, an individual with Cerebral Palsy has the opportunity to communicate effectively with anybody when given the chance. A spelling board is just a wooden board with letters on it. Another device call the Lightwriter™ allows the user to type a sentence, and play it back, and people can hear it. Despite devices like this, it can be a challenge when trying to make friends, but with a little extra time and patience, it can be done. My way of making friends is try to get on the same level playing field with them in some way, be it through common interests or something else. For example, I enjoy politics, and if I hear somebody else discussing politics, then that is a natural opening for me to try and make a new friend.

Because the individual is slow in moving his/her limbs, the task of doing something can be a very slow process. I am no exception, and it can take me a long time to do things. I can remember when I was an adolescent, and enrolled in Special Education studying Math. Once, it took the entire day to do my math assignment on fractions. It could take me another complete day to read a chapter of my math book.

Many Cerebral Palsy people have earned college degrees, and I myself have been studying at Shoreline Community College for the past ten years. I am working towards a Transfer Degree in English. As a rule, it can take six or more years for a Cerebral Palsy student to complete the usual community college's typical three-year degree. Because of my condition, it might take me more than one quarter to complete a class. I recall that one of the toughest classes for me that took an especially long time to finish was English 098. My goal was to complete the course on my own, without the help of a tutor, and I finally did. It was a huge accomplishment for me. Other courses, such as Religion, were easier for me, and took less time to finish. I’ve learned a lot in all my classes, and am grateful for any chance I have to receive more education.

When the Cerebral Palsy student finally earns his/her degree, it can be a challenge to find some kind of employment. Maybe potential employers don’t like our appearance. Maybe they are not comfortable interacting with us, or maybe they don’t see how we could be of service to them in their company. Maybe they think we would be too slow to do the task. But whatever the reason, in reality, we are capable of doing the same jobs as people who don’t have this condition, if we are given the opportunity.

I have been employed before in my life and had great success. Some of the jobs were challenging, especially those dealing with customers. To make my point, 15 years ago, I sold flowers a street corner. To some, it might seem impossible that I could do this. My flowers were set up for me, and I had a regular corner where I was located for about five hours a day. I made change, sold the flowers, and talked to customers. I had a group of regular patrons, and I enjoyed that job a lot. This was just one case where I conquered my drive, and accomplished my mission. Now, in 2004, it is my goal to be employed as a writer in some capacity because writing is what I really love to do, and writing is the tool that I can best use to communicate.

For a person who has Cerebral Palsy, it can seem like it takes forever and a day to do something. But now you’ve “walked in my shoes,” perhaps you can see now we get things done, and realize life moves on for us, like it does for anybody who doesn’t have this condition. People with Cerebral Palsy just do it in a different way sometimes. And we can be just as successful in our own way as anybody else.

How do you feel about Bush?

Interviews and photos by
Carol Brocker
Web Master

The lack of Health Care is a problem. I think that in one or two years we will be attacked again because of Bush. The US is not #1 anymore; our focus is more on trying to keep up appearances. We need to take care of our own house first.
- Tanesha Wright

I don’t think Bush is good at all. I don’t think this country should be run by someone else’s morals.
- Corrin Huffman

I voted for Kerry. I don’t want Bush. He has already screwed up this country. I wanted to give someone else a chance.
- Kelli Scott

It’s bad and he is a freak and I’m from Texas! I didn’t like Kerry much either.
- Amy Jacobes

He’s bad. He makes promises that he doesn’t keep. I have been denied Social Security. I had to cut my classes in September. He is telling us what to do with our own bodies.
- Karen Takeoka-Paulson